Methods and apparatuses for guiding collection of ultrasound data using motion and/or orientation data

ABSTRACT

Aspects of technology described herein relate to guiding collection of ultrasound data collection using motion and/or orientation data. A directional indicator corresponding to an instruction for moving an ultrasound imaging device relative to a subject may be displayed in an augmented reality display. The direction of the directional indicator in the augmented reality display may be independent of an orientation of the ultrasound imaging device. The augmented reality display may include video captured by a camera that depicts the ultrasound imaging device and a fiducial marker on the ultrasound imaging device. The direction of the directional indicator may be based on the pose of the camera relative to the fiducial marker and the rotation and/or tilt of the ultrasound imaging device relative to the axis of gravity. The direction of the directional indicator may also be based on the pose of the camera relative to the subject.

The present application claims the benefit under 35 USC § 119(e) of U.S.Patent Application Ser. No. 62/714,638, filed Aug. 3, 2018, underAttorney Docket No. B 1348.70092US00 entitled “METHODS AND APPARATUSESFOR GUIDING COLLECTION OF ULTRASOUND DATA USING MOTION AND/ORORIENTATION DATA,” which is hereby incorporated herein by reference inits entirety.

FIELD

Generally, the aspects of the technology described herein relate toultrasound data collection. Some aspects relate to guiding collection ofultrasound data using motion and/or orientation data from an ultrasoundimaging device.

BACKGROUND

Ultrasound devices may be used to perform diagnostic imaging and/ortreatment, using sound waves with frequencies that are higher withrespect to those audible to humans. Ultrasound imaging may be used tosee internal soft tissue body structures, for example to find a sourceof disease or to exclude any pathology. When pulses of ultrasound aretransmitted into tissue (e.g., by using an ultrasound imaging device),sound waves are reflected off the tissue, with different tissuesreflecting varying degrees of sound. These reflected sound waves maythen be recorded and displayed as an ultrasound image to the operator.The strength (amplitude) of the sound signal and the time it takes forthe wave to travel through the body provide information used to producethe ultrasound image. Many different types of images can be formed usingultrasound devices, including real-time images. For example, images canbe generated that show two-dimensional cross-sections of tissue, bloodflow, motion of tissue over time, the location of blood, the presence ofspecific molecules, the stiffness of tissue, or the anatomy of athree-dimensional region.

SUMMARY

According to one aspect, a method includes displaying, in an augmentedreality display, by a processing device in operative communication withan ultrasound imaging device, a directional indicator corresponding toan instruction for moving the ultrasound imaging device relative to asubject, wherein a direction of the directional indicator in theaugmented reality display is independent of an orientation of theultrasound imaging device.

In some embodiments, the directional indicator in the augmented realitydisplay is displayed so as to appear in the augmented reality display tobe part of a real-world environment of the ultrasound imaging device. Insome embodiments, the direction of the directional indicator in theaugmented reality display is determined at least partially based on anobject in a real-world environment of the ultrasound imaging device. Insome embodiments, the direction of the directional indicator in theaugmented reality display is determined at least partially based on anobject coupled to the ultrasound imaging device. In some embodiments,the direction of the directional indicator in the augmented realitydisplay is independent of an orientation of the ultrasound imagingdevice relative to an axis of gravity. In some embodiments, the methodfurther includes receiving ultrasound data from the ultrasound imagingdevice; determining the instruction for moving the ultrasound imagingdevice relative to the subject based on the ultrasound data; receiving aframe of video of the ultrasound imaging device from a camera, whereinthe ultrasound imaging device includes a fiducial marker coupled to theultrasound imaging device and depicted in the frame of video;determining, based on the frame of video, a pose of the camera relativeto the fiducial marker; receiving motion and/or orientation data fromthe ultrasound imaging device; determining, based on the motion and/ororientation data, a rotation and/or a tilt of the ultrasound imagingdevice relative to the axis of gravity; and determining the direction ofthe directional indicator in the augmented reality display based on theinstruction for moving the ultrasound imaging device relative to thesubject, the pose of the camera relative to the fiducial marker, and therotation and/or tilt of the ultrasound imaging device relative to theaxis of gravity.

In some embodiments, the method further includes displaying, in theaugmented reality display, the directional indicator superimposed on theframe of video. In some embodiments, determining the instruction formoving the ultrasound imaging device relative to the subject includesdetermining a second direction relative to the subject for moving theultrasound imaging device. In some embodiments, determining thedirection of the directional indicator includes determining a thirddirection relative to the fiducial marker such that, when the fiducialmarker is in a default orientation relative to the subject, the thirddirection relative to the fiducial marker is equivalent to the secondrelative to the subject; determining a first transformation thatquantifies an inverse of the rotation and/or tilt of the ultrasoundimaging device relative to the axis of gravity; applying the firsttransformation to the third direction relative to the fiducial marker toproduce a fourth direction relative to the fiducial marker; anddetermining, based on the pose of the camera relative to the fiducialmarker, a fifth direction in the augmented reality display that appearsto point in the fourth direction relative to the fiducial marker. Insome embodiments, determining the third direction relative to thefiducial marker includes determining the third direction relative to thefiducial marker in a marker coordinate system referenced to the fiducialmarker. In some embodiments, determining the first transformation thatquantifies the inverse of the rotation and/or tilt relative to the axisof gravity includes determining the first transformation that quantifiesthe inverse of the rotation and/or tilt relative to the axis of gravityin the marker coordinate system. In some embodiments, applying the firsttransformation to the third direction relative to the fiducial marker toproduce the fourth direction relative to the fiducial marker includesmultiplying the first transformation by at least two points includingthe third direction relative to the fiducial marker. In someembodiments, determining the fifth direction in the augmented realitydisplay that appears to point in the fourth direction relative to thefiducial marker includes determining a second transformation quantifyinga translation and/or rotation of a camera coordinate system referencedto the camera with respect to the marker coordinate system referenced tothe fiducial marker; determining a third transformation quantifying aprojection of the camera coordinate system onto an image coordinatesystem referenced to the frame of video; and applying the secondtransformation and the third transformation to the fourth directionrelative to the fiducial marker to produce the fifth direction in theaugmented reality display. In some embodiments, applying the secondtransformation and the third transformation to the fourth directionrelative to the fiducial marker to produce the fifth direction in theaugmented reality display includes multiplying the second transformationby at least two points including the fourth direction relative to thefiducial marker to produce an intermediate result; and multiplying theintermediate result by the third transformation.

In some embodiments, determining the instruction for moving theultrasound imaging device includes inputting the ultrasound data to astatistical model configured to output instructions for moving theultrasound imaging device based on inputted ultrasound data. In someembodiments, the ultrasound imaging device is configured to generate themotion and/or orientation data using one or more of an accelerometer, agyroscope, or a magnetometer on the ultrasound imaging device. In someembodiments, the camera is on the processing device. In someembodiments, the fiducial marker is coupled to the ultrasound imagingdevice. In some embodiments, the fiducial marker includes one or moreArUco markers. In some embodiments, the fiducial marker includes a cubecoupled to an end of the ultrasound imaging device. In some embodiments,the cube includes two halves configured to couple together around theend of the ultrasound imaging device. In some embodiments, theultrasound imaging device further includes a cable; the cube includes ahole extending through the cube; and the cable extends from the end ofthe ultrasound imaging device through the cube.

In some embodiments, the directional indicator in the augmented realitydisplay is displayed so as to appear in the augmented reality display tobe part of a real-world environment of the ultrasound imaging device. Insome embodiments, the direction of the directional indicator in theaugmented reality display is determined at least partially based on anobject in a real-world environment of the ultrasound imaging device. Insome embodiments, the direction of the directional indicator in theaugmented reality display is determined at least partially based on thesubject. In some embodiments, the direction of the directional indicatorin the augmented reality display is independent of an orientation of theultrasound imaging device relative to the subject. In some embodiments,the method further includes receiving ultrasound data from theultrasound imaging device; determining, based on the ultrasound data,the instruction for moving the ultrasound imaging device relative to thesubject; receiving a frame of video of the subject from a camera;determining, based on the frame of video, a pose of the camera relativeto the subject; and determining the direction of the directionalindicator in the augmented reality display based on the instruction formoving the ultrasound imaging device relative to the subject and thepose of the camera relative to the subject.

In some embodiments, the method further includes displaying, in theaugmented reality display, the directional indicator superimposed on theframe of video. In some embodiments, determining the instruction formoving the ultrasound imaging device relative to the subject includesdetermining a second direction relative to the subject for moving theultrasound imaging device. In some embodiments, determining thedirection of the directional indicator includes determining, based onthe pose of the camera relative to the subject, a third direction in theaugmented reality display that appears to point in the second directionrelative to the subject. In some embodiments, determining the thirddirection in the augmented reality display that appears to point in thesecond direction relative to the fiducial marker includes determining asecond transformation quantifying a translation and/or rotation of acamera coordinate system referenced to the camera with respect to themarker coordinate system referenced to the fiducial marker; determininga third transformation quantifying a projection of the camera coordinatesystem onto an image coordinate system referenced to the frame of video;and applying the second transformation and the third transformation tothe second direction relative to the subject. In some embodiments,applying the second transformation and the third transformation to thesecond direction relative to the fiducial marker includes multiplyingthe second transformation by at least two points including the seconddirection relative to the subject to produce an intermediate result; andmultiplying the intermediate result by the third transformation. In someembodiments, determining, based on the frame of video of the subject,the pose of the camera relative to the subject includes inputting theframe of video of the subject to a statistical model configured tooutput the pose of the camera relative to the subject based on theinputted frame of video of the subject. In some embodiments, the camerais on the processing device. In some embodiments, determining theinstruction for moving the ultrasound imaging device includes inputtingthe ultrasound data to a statistical model configured to outputinstructions for moving the ultrasound imaging device based on inputtedultrasound data.

Some aspects include at least one non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium storing processor-executable instructions that, whenexecuted by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor toperform the above aspects and embodiments. Some aspects include anapparatus having a processing device configured to perform the aboveaspects and embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various aspects and embodiments will be described with reference to thefollowing exemplary and non-limiting figures. It should be appreciatedthat the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale. Items appearing inmultiple figures are indicated by the same or a similar reference numberin all the figures in which they appear.

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic block diagram of an example ultrasoundsystem upon which various aspects of the technology described herein maybe practiced;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of an ultrasound imaging device includinga fiducial marker, in accordance with certain embodiments describedherein;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example augmented reality display including adirectional indicator indicating an instruction for moving an ultrasoundimaging device, in accordance with certain embodiments described herein;

FIG. 4 illustrates the example augmented reality display of FIG. 3including the same instruction after the ultrasound imaging device hasbeen rotated/tilted, in accordance with certain embodiments describedherein;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example process for guiding collection ofultrasound data, in accordance with certain embodiments describedherein;

FIG. 6 illustrates an example ultrasound imaging device, an examplefiducial marker coupled to the ultrasound imaging device, and particularpoints in a coordinate system referenced to the fiducial marker, inaccordance with certain embodiments described herein;

FIG. 7 illustrates the ultrasound imaging device of FIG. 6 in an exampledefault orientation relative to a subject being imaged, in accordancewith certain embodiments described herein;

FIG. 8 illustrates an example augmented reality display including aframe of video depicting the ultrasound imaging device of and thefiducial marker of FIG. 6, in accordance with certain embodimentsdescribed herein;

FIG. 9 illustrates an example process for guiding collection ofultrasound, in accordance with certain embodiments described herein;

FIG. 10 illustrates an example subject and particular points in acoordinate system referenced to the subject, in accordance with certainembodiments described herein;

FIG. 11 illustrates an example augmented reality display including aframe of video depicting the subject of FIG. 10, in accordance withcertain embodiments described herein; and

FIG. 12 illustrates an example process for guiding collection ultrasounddata by determining whether ultrasound imaging device exceeds athreshold velocity, in accordance with certain embodiments describedherein;

FIG. 13 illustrates an example convolutional neural network that isconfigured to analyze an image.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Ultrasound examinations often include the acquisition of ultrasoundimages that contain a view of a particular anatomical structure (e.g.,an organ) of a subject. Acquisition of these ultrasound images typicallyrequires considerable skill. For example, an ultrasound technicianoperating an ultrasound device may need to know where the anatomicalstructure to be imaged is located on the subject and further how toproperly position the ultrasound device on the subject to capture amedically relevant ultrasound image of the anatomical structure. Holdingthe ultrasound device a few inches too high or too low on the subjectmay make the difference between capturing a medically relevantultrasound image and capturing a medically irrelevant ultrasound image.As a result, non-expert operators of an ultrasound device may haveconsiderable trouble capturing medically relevant ultrasound images of asubject. Common mistakes by these non-expert operators include:capturing ultrasound images of the incorrect anatomical structure andcapturing foreshortened (or truncated) ultrasound images of the correctanatomical structure.

Conventional ultrasound systems are large, complex, and expensivesystems that are typically only purchased by large medical facilitieswith significant financial resources. Recently, cheaper and less complexultrasound imaging devices have been introduced. Such imaging devicesmay include ultrasonic transducers monolithically integrated onto asingle semiconductor die to form a monolithic ultrasound device. Aspectsof such ultrasound-on-a chip devices are described in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/415,434 titled “UNIVERSAL ULTRASOUND DEVICE ANDRELATED APPARATUS AND METHODS,” filed on Jan. 25, 2017 (and assigned tothe assignee of the instant application), which is incorporated byreference herein in its entirety. The reduced cost and increasedportability of these new ultrasound devices may make them significantlymore accessible to the general public than conventional ultrasounddevices.

The inventors have recognized and appreciated that although the reducedcost and increased portability of ultrasound imaging devices makes themmore accessible to the general populace, people who could make use ofsuch devices have little to no training for how to use them. Forexample, a small clinic without a trained ultrasound technician on staffmay purchase an ultrasound device to help diagnose patients. In thisexample, a nurse at the small clinic may be familiar with ultrasoundtechnology and human physiology, but may know neither which anatomicalviews of a patient need to be imaged in order to identifymedically-relevant information about the patient nor how to obtain suchanatomical views using the ultrasound device. In another example, anultrasound device may be issued to a patient by a physician for at-homeuse to monitor the patient's heart. In all likelihood, the patientunderstands neither human physiology nor how to image his or her ownheart with the ultrasound device.

Accordingly, the inventors have developed assistive ultrasound imagingtechnology for guiding an operator of an ultrasound device how to movethe ultrasound device relative to an anatomical area of a subject inorder to capture medically relevant ultrasound data. To guide the user,the processing device may output one or more instructions for moving theultrasound imaging device from the current position and orientation tothe target position and orientation. To output an instruction, theprocessing device may capture, using a camera, a video in real-time ofthe ultrasound imaging device and/or the subject, and display anaugmented reality display including a directional indicator (e.g., anarrow) superimposed on the video, where the directional indicatorindicates the instruction for moving the ultrasound imaging device. Forexample, if the instruction is to move the ultrasound imaging device inthe superior direction (i.e., in the superior direction relative to thesubject), the processing device may display a directional indicator inthe superior direction.

The inventors have recognized that it may be helpful to couple afiducial marker, such as a marker conforming to the ArUco library foraugmented reality applications (referred to herein as an “ArUco marker”)to an ultrasound imaging device. When the ultrasound imaging device isin a default orientation relative to the subject being imaged, aparticular direction relative to the fiducial marker may point in aparticular direction relative to the subject being imaged, such assuperior to the subject. A processing device may receive video of theultrasound imaging device and the fiducial marker coupled to theultrasound imaging device and display an augmented reality display thatincludes the video. The processing device may use pose estimationtechniques to determine how to display directions in the augmentedreality display such that the directions appear to point in particulardirections relative to the fiducial marker in the video. For example,the processing device may display a directional indicator in theaugmented reality display that appears to be parallel to the directionrelative to the fiducial marker that points in the superior directionrelative to the subject. This directional indicator may serve as aninstruction to move the ultrasound imaging device in the superiordirection relative to the subject. However, once the ultrasound imagingdevice is rotated or tilted, this direction relative to the fiducialmarker may no longer point in the superior direction relative to thesubject, and displaying a directional indicator that is parallel to thisdirection relative to the fiducial marker may no longer be helpful as aninstruction for moving the ultrasound imaging device in the superiordirection. It may be helpful for directional indicators to not changedirection as the ultrasound imaging device is rotated or tilted.

The inventors have recognized that to avoid directional indicatorschanging direction as an ultrasound imaging device is rotated or tilted,it may be helpful to fix directional indicators relative to the axis ofgravity, assuming that the subject does not change orientation relativeto gravity. In particular, motion and/or orientation data received fromthe ultrasound imaging device may be used to determine rotations and/ortilts of the ultrasound imaging device relative to the axis of gravity.When the ultrasound imaging device is in a default orientation relativeto the subject being imaged, a particular direction relative to afiducial marker (e.g., fiducial marker cube 208) that is coupled to theultrasound imaging device may point in a particular direction relativeto the subject being imaged, such as superior. The processing device mayprovide an instruction to move the ultrasound imaging device in thatparticular direction relative to the subject by displaying, on anaugmented reality display, a directional indicator that appears to pointin this direction relative to the fiducial marker, minus any rotationand/or tilting of the ultrasound imaging device relative to the axis ofgravity from its default orientation, as indicated by the motion and/ororientation data.

The inventors have also recognized that to avoid directional indicatorschanging direction as an ultrasound imaging device is rotated or tilted,it may be helpful to fix directional indicators relative to the subjectbeing imaged. In particular, a frame of video of the subject captured bya camera may be used to determine the pose of the camera relative to thesubject, and the pose may be used to determine how to how to display, onan augmented reality display showing the frame of video, a directionalindicator that appears to point in a particular direction relative tothe subject.

According to an aspect of the present application, determination of adirectional indicator to provide a user is made using a techniquedependent on the orientation of the ultrasound device. For example, amagnetic flux indicator, fiducial marker, or other indicator which maybe dependent on its orientation for providing location information, maybe used to determine the location of the ultrasound device, which inturn may be used to determine an appropriate directional indicator toprovide. However, while the determination of location of the ultrasounddevice may be made using an orientation-dependent technique, thedirectional indicator may be provided to the user independent of theorientation of the ultrasound device, such that changes in theorientation of the ultrasound device do not give rise to changes in thedirectional indicator unless the position of the ultrasound probe alsochanges.

Various aspects of the present application are described as providing orimplementing statistical models. In some embodiments, a statisticalmodel may be a convolutional neural network having one or moreconvolutional layers, a recurrent neural network, a fully-connectedneural network, and/or any other suitable type of deep neural networkmodel, a random forest, a support vector machine, a linear classifier, aBayesian classifier, a non-parametric statistical model, and/or anyother statistical model unless otherwise noted.

As referred to herein, a device displaying an item (e.g., a directionalindicator on an augmented reality display) should be understood to meanthat the device displays the item on the device's own display screen, orgenerates the item to be displayed on another device's display screen.To perform the latter, the device may transmit instructions to the otherdevice for displaying the item.

As referred to herein, an augmented reality display should be understoodto mean any display superimposing non-real two- or three-dimensionalgraphics on images/video of the real three-dimensional world such thatthe two- or three-dimensional graphics appear to be present in thethree-dimensional world.

As referred to herein, any action performed based on some inputcriterion/criteria should be understood to mean that the action isperformed based solely on the input criterion/criteria or based on theinput criterion/criteria and other input criterion/criteria. Forexample, a determination made based on ultrasound data should beunderstood to mean that the determination is either made based on theultrasound data or based on the ultrasound data and other input data.

As referred to herein, a pose should be understood to mean a positionand/or orientation of one object relative to another object. Forexample, the position and/or orientation of a camera relative to afiducial marker may be considered a pose of the camera relative to thefiducial marker.

As referred to herein, a first device that is in operative communicationwith a second device should be understood to mean that the first devicemay transmit signals to the second device and thereby affect operationof the second device. The second device may also transmit signals to thefirst device and thereby affect operation of the first device.

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic block diagram of an example ultrasoundsystem 100 upon which various aspects of the technology described hereinmay be practiced. The ultrasound system 100 includes an ultrasoundimaging device 114, a processing device 102, a network 116, and one ormore servers 134.

The ultrasound imaging device 114 includes a motion and/or orientationsensor 109. The processing device 102 includes a camera 106, a displayscreen 108, a processor 110, a memory 112, an input device 118, and amotion and/or orientation sensor 109. The processing device 102 is inwired (e.g., through a lightning connector or a mini-USB connector)and/or wireless communication (e.g., using BLUETOOTH, ZIGBEE, and/orWiFi wireless protocols) with the ultrasound imaging device 114. Theprocessing device 102 is in wireless communication with the one or moreservers 134 over the network 116.

The ultrasound imaging device 114 may be configured to generateultrasound data that may be employed to generate an ultrasound image.The ultrasound imaging device 114 may be constructed in any of a varietyof ways. In some embodiments, the ultrasound imaging device 114 includesa transmitter that transmits a signal to a transmit beamformer which inturn drives transducer elements within a transducer array to emit pulsedultrasonic signals into a structure, such as a patient. The pulsedultrasonic signals may be back-scattered from structures in the body,such as blood cells or muscular tissue, to produce echoes that return tothe transducer elements. These echoes may then be converted intoelectrical signals by the transducer elements and the electrical signalsare received by a receiver. The electrical signals representing thereceived echoes are sent to a receive beamformer that outputs ultrasounddata. The ultrasound imaging device 114 may include one or moreultrasonic transducers monolithically integrated onto a singlesemiconductor die. The ultrasonic transducers may include, for example,one or more capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs), oneor more piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers (PMUTs),and/or one or more other suitable ultrasonic transducer cells. In someembodiments, the ultrasonic transducers may be formed from or on thesame chip as other electronic components (e.g., transmit circuitry,receive circuitry, control circuitry, power management circuitry, andprocessing circuitry) to form a monolithic ultrasound device. Theultrasound imaging device 114 may transmit ultrasound data and/orultrasound images to the processing device 102 over a wired (e.g.,through a lightning connector or a mini-USB connector) and/or wireless(e.g., using BLUETOOTH, ZIGBEE, and/or WiFi wireless protocols)communication link.

The motion and/or orientation sensor 109 may be configured to generatemotion and/or orientation data regarding the ultrasound imaging device114. For example, the motion and/or orientation sensor 109 may beconfigured to generate to generate data regarding acceleration of theultrasound imaging device 114, data regarding angular velocity of theultrasound imaging device 114, and/or data regarding magnetic forceacting on the ultrasound imaging device 114 (which, due to the magneticfield of the earth, may be indicative of orientation relative to theearth). The motion and/or orientation sensor 109 may include anaccelerometer, a gyroscope, and/or a magnetometer. Depending on thesensors present in the motion and/or orientation sensor 109, the motionand/or orientation data generated by the motion and/or orientationsensor 109 may describe three degrees of freedom, six degrees offreedom, or nine degrees of freedom for the ultrasound imaging device114. For example, the motion and/or orientation sensor may include anaccelerometer, a gyroscope, and/or magnetometer. Each of these types ofsensors may describe three degrees of freedom. If the motion and/ororientation sensor includes one of these sensors, the motion and/ororientation sensor may describe three degrees of freedom. If the motionand/or orientation sensor includes two of these sensors, the motionand/or orientation sensor may describe two degrees of freedom. If themotion and/or orientation sensor includes three of these sensors, themotion and/or orientation sensor may describe nine degrees of freedom.The ultrasound imaging device 114 may transmit motion and/or orientationdata to the processing device 102 over a wired (e.g., through alightning connector or a mini-USB connector) and/or wireless (e.g.,using BLUETOOTH, ZIGBEE, and/or WiFi wireless protocols) communicationlink.

Referring now to the processing device 102, the processor 110 mayinclude specially-programmed and/or special-purpose hardware such as anapplication-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). For example, theprocessor 110 may include one or more graphics processing units (GPUs)and/or one or more tensor processing units (TPUs). TPUs may be ASICsspecifically designed for machine learning (e.g., statistical). The TPUsmay be employed to, for example, accelerate the inference phase of aneural network. The processing device 102 may be configured to processthe ultrasound data received from the ultrasound imaging device 114 togenerate ultrasound images for display on the display screen 108. Theprocessing may be performed by, for example, the processor 110. Theprocessor 110 may also be adapted to control the acquisition ofultrasound data with the ultrasound imaging device 114. The ultrasounddata may be processed in real-time during a scanning session as the echosignals are received. In some embodiments, the displayed ultrasoundimage may be updated a rate of at least 5 Hz, at least 10 Hz, at least20 Hz, at a rate between 5 and 60 Hz, at a rate of more than 20 Hz. Forexample, ultrasound data may be acquired even as images are beinggenerated based on previously acquired data and while a live ultrasoundimage is being displayed. As additional ultrasound data is acquired,additional frames or images generated from more-recently acquiredultrasound data are sequentially displayed. Additionally, oralternatively, the ultrasound data may be stored temporarily in a bufferduring a scanning session and processed in less than real-time.

The processing device 102 may be configured to perform certain of theprocesses described herein using the processor 110 (e.g., one or morecomputer hardware processors) and one or more articles of manufacturethat include non-transitory computer-readable storage media such as thememory 112. The processor 110 may control writing data to and readingdata from the memory 112 in any suitable manner. To perform certain ofthe processes described herein, the processor 110 may execute one ormore processor-executable instructions stored in one or morenon-transitory computer-readable storage media (e.g., the memory 112),which may serve as non-transitory computer-readable storage mediastoring processor-executable instructions for execution by the processor110. The camera 106 may be configured to detect light (e.g., visiblelight) to form an image. The display screen 108 may be configured todisplay images and/or videos, and may be, for example, a liquid crystaldisplay (LCD), a plasma display, and/or an organic light emitting diode(OLED) display on the processing device 102. The input device 118 mayinclude one or more devices capable of receiving input from a user andtransmitting the input to the processor 110. For example, the inputdevice 118 may include a keyboard, a mouse, a microphone, touch-enabledsensors on the display screen 108, and/or a microphone. The displayscreen 108, the input device 118, the camera 106, and the speaker 109may be communicatively coupled to the processor 110 and/or under thecontrol of the processor 110.

It should be appreciated that the processing device 102 may beimplemented in any of a variety of ways. For example, the processingdevice 102 may be implemented as a handheld device such as a mobilesmartphone or a tablet. Thereby, a user of the ultrasound imaging device114 may be able to operate the ultrasound imaging device 114 with onehand and hold the processing device 102 with another hand. In otherexamples, the processing device 102 may be implemented as a portabledevice that is not a handheld device, such as a laptop. In yet otherexamples, the processing device 102 may be implemented as a stationarydevice such as a desktop computer. The processing device 102 may beconnected to the network 116 over a wired connection (e.g., via anEthernet cable) and/or a wireless connection (e.g., over a WiFinetwork). The processing device 102 may thereby communicate with (e.g.,transmit data to) the one or more servers 134 over the network 116. Forfurther description of ultrasound devices and systems, see U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/415,434 titled “UNIVERSAL ULTRASOUND DEVICE ANDRELATED APPARATUS AND METHODS,” filed on Jan. 25, 2017 (and assigned tothe assignee of the instant application).

FIG. 1 should be understood to be non-limiting. For example, theultrasound system 100 may include fewer or more components than shownand the processing device 102 may include fewer or more components thanshown.

The inventors have recognized that it may be helpful to couple anorientation-dependent market to an ultrasound imaging device. Anon-limiting example of an orientation-dependent marker is a fiducialmarker, such as a marker conforming to the ArUco library for augmentedreality applications (referred to herein as an “ArUco marker”). When theultrasound imaging device is in a default orientation relative to thesubject being imaged, a particular direction relative to theorientation-dependent marker may point in a particular directionrelative to the subject being imaged, such as superior to the subject. Aprocessing device may receive video of the ultrasound imaging device andthe orientation-dependent marker coupled to the ultrasound imagingdevice and display an augmented reality display that includes the video.The processing device may use pose estimation techniques to determinehow to display directions in the augmented reality display such that thedirections appear to point in particular directions relative to theorientation-dependent marker in the video. As an example, the processingdevice may display a directional indicator (e.g., an arrow) in theaugmented reality display that appears to be parallel to the directionrelative to the orientation-dependent marker that points in the superiordirection relative to the subject. In some embodiments, a directionalindicator may include an instruction for translating the ultrasoundimaging device in a particular direction, as opposed to an orientationindicator which may include an instruction for orienting (e.g., rotatingand/or tilting) the ultrasound imaging device. The directional indicatormay serve as an instruction to move the ultrasound imaging device in thesuperior direction relative to the subject. However, once the ultrasoundimaging device is rotated or tilted, this direction relative to theorientation-dependent marker may no longer point in the superiordirection relative to the subject, and displaying a directionalindicator that is parallel to this direction relative to theorientation-dependent marker may no longer be helpful as an instructionfor moving the ultrasound imaging device in the superior direction. Itmay be helpful for directional indicators to not change direction as theultrasound imaging device is rotated or tilted.

Generally, the directional indicator in the augmented reality displaymay be displayed so as to appear in the augmented reality display to bepart of a real-world environment of the ultrasound imaging device. Toaccomplish this, the direction of the directional indicator in theaugmented reality display may be determined at least partially based onan object in the real-world environment of the ultrasound imagingdevice. For example, the direction may be determined based on an objectcoupled to the ultrasound imaging device, such as a fiducial marker orother orientation-dependent marker, and/or based on the subject beingimaged.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of an ultrasound imaging device 200including a fiducial marker, in accordance with certain embodimentsdescribed herein. The ultrasound imaging device 200 includes a body 202having a first end 204 and a second end 206, a fiducial marker 208, acable 210, and an orientation marking 216. An ultrasound sensor (notvisible in FIG. 2) is disposed at the first end 204. The fiducial marker208 is coupled to the second end 206 of the body 202. The fiducialmarker 208 is a cube including a plurality of markers disposed on thefive surfaces of the fiducial marker 208 that do not face the second end206 of the body 202. The face of the fiducial marker 208 facing awayfrom the second end 206 of the body 202 includes a hole 214. The cable210 extends from the second end 206 of the body 202 through the hole214. The cable 210 may transmit electrical signals from the ultrasoundimaging device 200 to the external processing device. The orientationmarking 216 may be used by a user to orient the ultrasound imagingdevice in a default orientation, as will be described further below.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate an example of desired operation in accordancewith certain embodiments described herein. FIG. 3 illustrates an exampleaugmented reality display including a directional indicator indicatingan instruction for moving an ultrasound imaging device, and FIG. 4illustrates the example augmented reality display including the sameinstruction after the ultrasound imaging device has been rotated/tilted,in accordance with certain embodiments described herein. FIGS. 3 and 4show a processing device 302 having a display screen 304 that displaysan augmented reality display 306. The augmented reality display 306includes a video 308 of an ultrasound imaging device 300 imaging asubject 312. The augmented reality display 306 further depicts adirectional indicator 314 displayed by the processing device 302 andintended to instruct a user to move the ultrasound imaging device 300 toa target position and orientation relative to the subject 312. In FIG.4, the ultrasound imaging device 300 has been rotated compared with theorientation of ultrasound imaging device 300 in FIG. 3. The augmentedreality display 306 depicts a directional indicator 414 corresponding tothe same instruction as the directional indicator 314, and the directionof the directional indicator 414 has not rotated with the ultrasoundimaging device 310 compared with the orientation of the directionalindicator 314.

The inventors have recognized that to avoid directional indicatorschanging direction as an ultrasound imaging device (e.g., the ultrasoundimaging device 200) is rotated or tilted, it may be helpful to fixdirectional indicators relative to the axis of gravity, assuming thatthe subject does not change orientation relative to gravity. Inparticular, motion and/or orientation data received from the ultrasoundimaging device may be used to determine rotations and/or tilts of theultrasound imaging device relative to the axis of gravity. When theultrasound imaging device is in a default orientation relative to thesubject being imaged, a particular direction relative to a fiducialmarker (e.g., fiducial marker cube 208) that is coupled to theultrasound imaging device may point in a particular direction relativeto the subject being imaged, such as superior. The processing device mayprovide an instruction to move the ultrasound imaging device in thatparticular direction relative to the subject by displaying, on anaugmented reality display, a directional indicator that appears to pointin this direction relative to the fiducial marker, minus any rotationand/or tilting of the ultrasound imaging device relative to the axis ofgravity from its default orientation, as indicated by the motion and/ororientation data.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example process 500 for guiding collection ofultrasound data, in accordance with certain embodiments describedherein. In some embodiments, guiding collection of ultrasound data maybe performed by displaying, on an augmented reality display, adirectional indicator indicating an instruction for moving an ultrasoundimaging device (e.g., the ultrasound imaging device 114), where thedirection of the directional indicator does not change substantially inresponse to movement of the ultrasound imaging device. In someembodiments, guiding collection of ultrasound data may be performed bydisplaying, on an augmented reality display, a directional indicatorindicating an instruction for moving an ultrasound imaging device (e.g.,the ultrasound imaging device 114), where the direction of thedirectional indicator is independent of an orientation of the ultrasoundimaging device. The process 500 includes fixing, to the axis of gravity,directional indicators indicating instructions for moving the ultrasoundimaging device. The process 500 may be performed by a processing device(e.g., the processing device 102) in an ultrasound system (e.g., theultrasound system 100). The processing device may be, for example, amobile phone, tablet, laptop, or server, and may be in operativecommunication with the ultrasound imaging device.

In act 502, the processing device receives ultrasound data collectedfrom a subject by the ultrasound imaging device. The ultrasound data mayinclude, for example, raw acoustical data, scan lines generated from rawacoustical data, or ultrasound images generated from raw acousticaldata. In some embodiments, the ultrasound imaging device may generatescan lines and/or ultrasound images from raw acoustical data andtransmit the scan lines and/or ultrasound images to the processingdevice. In other embodiments, the ultrasound imaging device may transmitthe raw acoustical data to the processing device and the processingdevice may generate the scan lines and/or ultrasound images from the rawacoustical data. In still other embodiments, the ultrasound imagingdevice may generate scan lines from the raw acoustical data, transmitthe scan lines to the processing device, and the processing device maygenerate ultrasound images from the scan lines. The ultrasound imagingdevice may transmit the motion and/or orientation data over a wiredcommunication link (e.g., over Ethernet, a Universal Serial Bus (USB)cable or a Lightning cable) or over a wireless communication link (e.g.,over a BLUETOOTH, WiFi, or ZIGBEE wireless communication link) to theprocessing device. The process 500 proceeds from act 502 to act 504.

In act 504, the processing device determines an instruction for movingthe ultrasound imaging device relative to the subject based on theultrasound data collected in act 502. In some embodiments, theprocessing device may input the ultrasound data received in act 502 to astatistical model configured to accept ultrasound data and output aninstruction for moving the ultrasound imaging device based on theultrasound data. The instruction may include an instruction for movingthe ultrasound imaging device to a target position and/or orientation(e.g., relative to a subject being imaged) and may include anycombination of instructions to translate, rotate, and tilt theultrasound imaging device. The target position and/or orientation of theultrasound imaging device may be a position and/or orientation of theultrasound imaging device relative to a subject such that the ultrasoundimaging device can collect a target anatomical view (e.g., a parasternallong axis view of the heart).

In some embodiments, the statistical model may be configured throughtraining to accept ultrasound data and output an instruction for movingthe ultrasound imaging device to a target pose based on the ultrasounddata. In particular, the statistical model may be trained on sets oftraining data, where each set of training data includes ultrasound datacollected from a subject when the ultrasound imaging device is at aparticular pose relative to a subject, and a label indicating aninstruction for moving the ultrasound imaging device from the particularpose to the target pose. The training data may be labeled manually by anannotator (e.g., a doctor, sonographer, or other medical professional).The statistical model may thereby learn what instruction to providebased on inputted ultrasound data. The statistical model may be aconvolutional neural network, a random forest, a support vector machine,a linear classifier, and/or any other statistical models. For furtherdescription of statistical models and techniques, see the descriptionwith reference to FIG. 13.

In some embodiments, the statistical model may be stored in memory onthe processing device and accessed internally by the processing device.In other embodiments, the statistical model may be stored in memory onanother device, such as a remote server, and the processing device maytransmit the motion and/or orientation data and the ultrasound data tothe external device. The external device may input the ultrasound datato the statistical model and transmit the instruction outputted by thestatistical model back to the processing device. Transmission betweenthe processing device and the external device may be over a wiredcommunication link (e.g., over Ethernet, a Universal Serial Bus (USB)cable or a Lightning cable) or over a wireless communication link (e.g.,over a BLUETOOTH, WiFi, or ZIGBEE wireless communication link). Theprocess 500 proceeds from act 504 to act 506.

In act 506, the processing device receives a frame of video of theultrasound imaging device captured by a camera. In some embodiments, acamera (e.g., camera 106) on the processing device may capture the frameof video. A user of the processing device may hold the ultrasoundimaging device on the subject being imaged and position the camera ofthe processing device (which the user may also be holding) such that theultrasound imaging device is in view of the camera. The process 500proceeds from act 506 to act 508.

In act 508, the processing device determines, based on the frame ofvideo received in act 506, a pose of the camera relative a fiducialmarker coupled to the ultrasound imaging device. For example, thefiducial marker may be a fiducial marker cube (e.g., fiducial marker208) coupled to one end of the ultrasound imaging device. The pose ofthe camera relative to the fiducial marker may be a quantification of atranslation and/or rotation of the camera relative to the fiducialmarker. In particular, the pose may be a quantification of a translationand/or rotation of a coordinate system referenced to the camera withrespect to a coordinate system referenced to the fiducial marker, aswill be discussed further below. The processing device may use poseestimation techniques, such as detecting known points on the fiducialmarker (e.g., corners) in the frame of video, to determine the pose ofthe camera relative to the fiducial marker. The process 500 proceedsfrom act 508 to act 506.

In act 510, the processing device receives motion and/or orientationdata from the ultrasound imaging device. For example, the motion and/ororientation data may include data regarding acceleration of the object,data regarding angular velocity of the object, and/or data regardingmagnetic force acting on the object (which, due to the magnetic field ofthe earth, may be indicative of orientation relative to the earth). Theultrasound imaging device may include an accelerometer, a gyroscope,and/or a magnetometer, and these devices may be used by the ultrasoundimaging device to generate the motion and/or orientation data. Dependingon the devices used to generate the motion and/or orientation data, themotion and/or orientation data may describe three degrees of freedom,six degrees of freedom, or nine degrees of freedom for the ultrasoundimaging device. The ultrasound imaging device may transmit the motionand/or orientation data over a wired communication link (e.g., overEthernet, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) cable or a Lightning cable) orover a wireless communication link (e.g., over a BLUETOOTH, WiFi, orZIGBEE wireless communication link) to the processing device. Theprocess 500 proceeds from act 510 to act 512.

In act 512, the processing device determines, based on the motion and/ororientation data received in act 506, a rotation and/or tilt of theultrasound imaging device relative to the axis of gravity. Inparticular, the processing device may use data from an accelerometer todetermine the rotation and/or tilt of the ultrasound imaging devicerelative to the axis of gravity. The process 500 proceeds from act 512to act 514.

In act 514, the processing device determines the direction of adirectional indicator in an augmented reality display. The directionalindicator may correspond to the instruction for moving the ultrasoundimaging device determined in act 504 by pointing in a direction on theaugmented reality display that matches the instruction. For example, ifthe instruction is to move the ultrasound imaging device in the superiordirection relative to the subject, the directional indicator may pointin the superior direction relative to the subject. The augmented realitydisplay may include the frame of video of the ultrasound imaging deviceand a directional indicator superimposed on the frame of video, wherethe directional indicator corresponds to the instruction for moving theultrasound imaging device. As will be described further below, theprocessing device determines the direction of the directional indicatorin the augmented reality display based on the instruction for moving theultrasound imaging device determined in act 504, the pose of the camerarelative to the fiducial marker determined in act 508, and the rotationand/or tilt of the ultrasound imaging device relative to the axis ofgravity determined in act 512. In some embodiments, the processingdevice may determine the direction such that the direction of thedirectional indicator in the augmented reality display does not changesubstantially in response to movement of the ultrasound imaging devicerelative to the axis of gravity. In some embodiments, the processingdevice may determine the direction such that the direction of thedirectional indicator in the augmented reality is independent of anorientation of the ultrasound imaging device relative to the axis ofgravity. The process 500 proceeds from act 514 to act 516.

In act 516, the processing device displays the directional indicator inthe augmented reality display. The augmented reality display may includethe frame of video received in act 506, or a frame of video receivedlater. The directional indicator may be superimposed on the frame ofvideo with the direction determined in act 514. The processing devicemay display the directional indicator in the augmented reality displayeither on a display screen included in the processing device (e.g.,display screen 108) or on a display screen on another processing device.

For example, consider an ultrasound imaging device that is oriented in adefault orientation relative to the subject such that a particulardirection relative to a fiducial marker coupled to the ultrasoundimaging device is facing the superior direction relative to the subject.If an instruction is to move the ultrasound imaging device in thesuperior direction relative to the subject, the processing device maydisplay, in an augmented reality display, a directional indicator thatappears to point in that particular direction relative to the fiducialmarker. If the ultrasound imaging device is rotated 90 degreescounterclockwise about the axis of gravity, the particular directionrelative to the fiducial marker that originally faced the superiordirection now faces the right side of the patient. The processing devicemay detect the 90-degree counterclockwise rotation relative to the axisof gravity, subtract a 90-degree counterclockwise rotation from theparticular relative to the fiducial marker direction, and display thedirectional indicator in this direction. Accordingly, despite therotation of the ultrasound imaging device, the direction of thedirectional indicator may remain substantially unchanged. This operationmay conform to the operation shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example ultrasound imaging device 604 and anexample fiducial marker 606 coupled to the ultrasound imaging device604. In accordance with certain embodiments described herein, athree-dimensional coordinate system may referenced to the fiducialmarker 606 and may be called the marker coordinate system. For example,two axes of the marker coordinate system may be in the plane of the topface of the fiducial marker 606, and the third axis of the markercoordinate system may be orthogonal to the top face of the fiducialmarker 606. FIG. 6 further highlights points O_(m) and Z_(m), which haveparticular coordinates in the marker coordinate system.

FIG. 7 illustrates the ultrasound imaging device 604 in an exampledefault orientation relative to a subject 710 being imaged, inaccordance with certain embodiments described herein. When theultrasound imaging device 604 is in the default orientation relative tothe subject 710, the points O_(m) and Z_(m) in the marker coordinatesystem may define a direction {right arrow over (O_(m)Z_(m))} relativeto the fiducial marker 606 that points in (i.e., is equivalent to) thesuperior direction 712 relative to the patient. The point Z_(m)′ will bediscussed further hereinafter.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example augmented reality display 800 including aframe of video 802 depicting the ultrasound imaging device 604 and thefiducial marker 606, in accordance with certain embodiments describedherein. In the frame of video 802, the fiducial marker 606 has beenrotated/tilted relative to the direction of gravity from the defaultorientation relative to the subject 710 of FIG. 7. The processing devicemay use motion and/or orientation data from the ultrasound imagingdevice 604 to determine the rotation/tilt of the ultrasound imagingdevice 604 relative to the direction of gravity in the marker coordinatesystem. Based on the rotation/tilt of the ultrasound imaging device 604relative to the direction of gravity, the processing device maydetermine a rotation/tilt transformation that causes points in themarker coordinate system to be rotated and/or tilted by the inverse ofthe rotation/tilt of the ultrasound imaging device 604 relative to thedirection of gravity. For example, if the rotation/tilt of theultrasound imaging device 604 is a 90-degree clockwise rotation relativeto the direction of gravity, the rotation/tilt transformation mayquantify how to rotate points in the marker coordinate by 90-degreescounterclockwise relative to the direction of gravity. The rotation/tilttransformation may be, for example, in the form of a matrix or aquaternion.

Returning to FIG. 7, the point Z_(m)′ in the marker coordinate systemmay represent the point Z_(m) rotated/tilted by the same rotation/tiltof the ultrasound imaging device 604 in FIG. 8 relative to the defaultorientation of the ultrasound imaging device 604 in FIG. 7. Inparticular, the point Z_(m)′ may represent the result of applying therotation/tilt transformation to the point Z_(m) (e.g., multiplying thepoints O_(m)′ and Z_(m)′ by the rotation/tilt transformation if therotation/tilt transformation is a matrix). (In the example of FIG. 7,the point Z_(m) is transformed to point Z_(m)′ but the point O_(m) is atthe origin of the marker coordinate system and does not change whenrotated/tilted by the rotation/tilt image transformation.)

Returning to FIG. 8, the camera that captured the frame of video 802 mayhave its own three-dimensional coordinate system, which may be calledthe camera coordinate system. For example, the origin of the cameracoordinate system may be at the center of projection of the camera andone axis of the camera coordinate system may be the optical axis of thecamera. A camera-image transformation, dependent on intrinsiccharacteristics of the camera (e.g., focal length, optical center,etc.), may determine how the camera coordinate system is projected ontoan image coordinate system referenced to the frame of video 802. Theimage coordinate system, for example, may be a two-dimensionalcoordinate system within the plane of the frame of video 802.

Using pose estimation techniques, and based on the frame of video 802,the processing device may calculate the pose of the camera relative tothe fiducial marker 606. Using the pose of the camera relative to thefiducial marker 606, the processing device may calculate a marker-cameratransformation that quantifies a translation and/or rotation of thecamera coordinate system with respect to the marker coordinate system ofFIG. 6. The pose estimation techniques may include using knowncorrespondences between points in the marker coordinate system andpoints in the image coordinate system of the frame of video 802. Forexample, the processing device may detect coordinates of corners of thefiducial marker 606 in the image coordinate system of the frame of video802 and already know coordinates of the corners of the fiducial marker606 in the marker coordinate system. This information, along with theintrinsic characteristics of the camera, may be used by the processingdevice to calculate the marker-camera transformation. The marker-cameratransformation may be, for example, in the form of a matrix or aquaternion.

The marker-camera transformation and the camera-image transformation maydetermine how to transform the points O_(m) and Z_(m)′ in the markercoordinate system to points O_(i) and Z_(i)′ in the image coordinatesystem. In particular, the points O_(i) and Z_(i)′ may represent theresult of applying the marker-camera transformation and the camera-imagetransformation to the points O_(m) and Z_(m)′ (e.g., multiplying thepoints O_(m) and Z_(m)′ by the marker-camera transformation andmultiplying the result of that multiplication by the camera-imagetransformation, if the marker-camera transformation and the camera-imagetransformations are matrices). The processing device may superimpose adirectional indicator 814 on the augmented reality display 800 such thatthe directional indicator 814 is parallel to the direction {right arrowover (O_(i)Z_(i)′)}. The directional indicator 814 may serve as aninstruction for moving the ultrasound imaging device 604 in the superiordirection relative to the subject 710.

The direction {right arrow over (O_(m)Z_(m))}, prior to rotation and/ortilt of the ultrasound imaging device 604 from the default orientationof FIG. 7, pointed in the superior direction relative to the subject.The direction {right arrow over (O_(m)Z_(m)′)}, after the rotationand/or tilt of the ultrasound imaging device 604, points in the superiordirection relative to the subject. The direction {right arrow over(O_(i)Z_(i)′)} appears in the augmented reality to point in the samedirection relative to the fiducial marker 606 may therefore appear topoint in the superior direction relative to the subject. Accordingly,the directional indicator 814, which appears in the augmented realitydisplay 800 to point parallel to the direction {right arrow over(O_(i)Z_(i)′)}, may also point in the superior direction relative to thesubject and therefore serve as an instruction for moving the ultrasoundimaging device 604 in the superior direction relative to the subject. Insome embodiments, if the ultrasound imaging device 604 continues torotate and/or tilt relative to gravity, the directional indicator 814may not change substantially in response to movement of the ultrasoundimaging device using the methods described above. In some embodiments,if the ultrasound imaging device 604 continues to rotate and/or tiltrelative to gravity, the directional indicator 814 may be independent ofan orientation of the ultrasound imaging device using the methodsdescribed above. It should be noted that the points O_(m), Z_(m), O_(i),Z_(i), and Z_(i)′ are shown in the above figures for explanatorypurposes and may not actually be shown on the augmented reality display800.

The inventors have also recognized that to avoid directional indicatorschanging direction as an ultrasound imaging device (e.g., the ultrasoundimaging device 200) is rotated or tilted, it may be helpful to fixdirectional indicators relative to the subject being imaged. Inparticular, a frame of video of the subject captured by a camera may beused to determine the pose of the camera relative to the subject, andthe pose may be used to determine how to how to display, on an augmentedreality display showing the frame of video, a directional indicator thatappears to point in a particular direction relative to the subject.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example process 900 for guiding collection ofultrasound data, in accordance with certain embodiments describedherein. In some embodiments, guiding collection of ultrasound data maybe performed by displaying, on an augmented reality display, adirectional indicator indicating an instruction for moving an ultrasoundimaging device (e.g., the ultrasound imaging device 114), where thedirection of the directional indicator does not change substantially inresponse to movement of the ultrasound imaging device. In someembodiments, guiding collection of ultrasound data may be performed bydisplaying, on an augmented reality display, a directional indicatorindicating an instruction for moving an ultrasound imaging device (e.g.,the ultrasound imaging device 114), where the direction of thedirectional indicator does is independent of an orientation of theultrasound imaging device. The process 900 includes fixing, to a subjectbeing imaged, directional indicators indicating instructions for movingthe ultrasound imaging device. The process 900 may be performed by aprocessing device (e.g., processing device 102) in an ultrasound system(e.g., ultrasound system 100). The processing device may be, forexample, a mobile phone, tablet, laptop, or server, and may be inoperative communication with the ultrasound imaging device.

In act 902, the processing device receives ultrasound data collectedfrom a subject by the ultrasound imaging device. The ultrasound data mayinclude, for example, raw acoustical data, scan lines generated from rawacoustical data, or ultrasound images generated from raw acousticaldata. In some embodiments, the ultrasound imaging device may generatescan lines and/or ultrasound images from raw acoustical data andtransmit the scan lines and/or ultrasound images to the processingdevice. In other embodiments, the ultrasound imaging device may transmitthe raw acoustical data to the processing device and the processingdevice may generate the scan lines and/or ultrasound images from the rawacoustical data. In still other embodiments, the ultrasound imagingdevice may generate scan lines from the raw acoustical data, transmitthe scan lines to the processing device, and the processing device maygenerate ultrasound images from the scan lines. The ultrasound imagingdevice may transmit the motion and/or orientation data over a wiredcommunication link (e.g., over Ethernet, a Universal Serial Bus (USB)cable or a Lightning cable) or over a wireless communication link (e.g.,over a BLUETOOTH, WiFi, or ZIGBEE wireless communication link) to theprocessing device. The process 900 proceeds from act 902 to act 904.

In act 904, the processing device determines an instruction for movingthe ultrasound imaging device in a particular direction relative to thesubject based on the ultrasound data collected in act 902. In someembodiments, the processing device may input the ultrasound datareceived in act 902 to a statistical model configured to acceptultrasound data and output an instruction for moving the ultrasoundimaging device based on the ultrasound data. The instruction may includean instruction for moving the ultrasound imaging device to a targetposition and/or orientation (e.g., relative to a subject being imaged)and may include any combination of instructions to translate, rotate,and tilt the ultrasound imaging device in a particular directionrelative to the subject. For example, the instruction may be to move theultrasound imaging device in the superior direction relative to thesubject. The target position and/or orientation of the ultrasoundimaging device may be a position and/or orientation of the ultrasoundimaging device relative to a subject such that the ultrasound imagingdevice can collect a target anatomical view (e.g., a parasternal longaxis view of the heart).

In some embodiments, the statistical model may be configured throughtraining to accept ultrasound data and output an instruction for movingthe ultrasound imaging device to a target pose based on the ultrasounddata. In particular, the statistical model may be trained on sets oftraining data, where each set of training data includes ultrasound datacollected from a subject when the ultrasound imaging device is at aparticular pose relative to a subject, and a label indicating aninstruction for moving the ultrasound imaging device from the particularpose to the target pose. The training data may be labeled manually by anannotator (e.g., a doctor, sonographer, or other medical professional).The statistical model may thereby learn what instruction to providebased on inputted ultrasound data. The statistical model may be aconvolutional neural network, a random forest, a support vector machine,a linear classifier, and/or any other deep learning models. For furtherdescription of deep learning models and techniques, see the descriptionwith reference to FIG. 13.

In some embodiments, the statistical model may be stored in memory onthe processing device and accessed internally by the processing device.In other embodiments, the statistical model may be stored in memory onanother device, such as a remote server, and the processing device maytransmit the motion and/or orientation data and the ultrasound data tothe external device. The external device may input the ultrasound datato the statistical model and transmit the instruction outputted by thestatistical model back to the processing device. Transmission betweenthe processing device and the external device may be over a wiredcommunication link (e.g., over Ethernet, a Universal Serial Bus (USB)cable or a Lightning cable) or over a wireless communication link (e.g.,over a BLUETOOTH, WiFi, or ZIGBEE wireless communication link). Theprocess 900 proceeds from act 904 to act 906.

In act 906, the processing device receives a frame of video of thesubject captured by a camera. In some embodiments, a camera (e.g.,camera 106) on the processing device may capture the frame of video. Auser of the processing device may hold the ultrasound imaging device onthe subject being imaged and position the camera of the processingdevice (which the user may also be holding) such that the subject is inview of the camera. The process 900 proceeds from act 906 to act 908.

In act 908, the processing device determines, based on the frame ofvideo received in act 906, a pose of the camera relative to the subject.The pose of the camera relative to the subject may be a quantificationof a translation and/or rotation of the camera relative to the fiducialmarker. In particular, the pose of the camera relative to the subjectmay be a transformation quantifying a translation and/or rotation of thecoordinate system referenced to the camera with respect to a coordinatesystem referenced to the subject. The transformation may be, forexample, in the form of a matrix or a quaternion.

In some embodiments, to determine the pose of the camera relative to thesubject, the processing device may input the frame of video received inact 906 to a statistical model configured to accept a frame of video ofa subject and output, based on the frame of video, a pose of the camerathat collected the frame of video relative to the subject. In someembodiments, the statistical model may be configured through training toaccept a frame of video of a subject and output, based on the frame ofvideo, a pose of the camera that collected the frame of video relativeto the subject. In particular, the statistical model may be trained onsets of training data, where each set of training data includes a frameof video of a subject and a label indicating a pose of the camera thatcollected the frame of video relative to the subject. The training datamay be labeled manually. The statistical model may thereby learn how tooutput poses of cameras relative to subjects based on inputted frames ofvideo of the subjects. The statistical model may be a convolutionalneural network, a random forest, a support vector machine, a linearclassifier, and/or any other deep learning models. For furtherdescription of deep learning models and techniques, see the descriptionwith reference to FIG. 13.

In some embodiments, the statistical model may be stored in memory onthe processing device and accessed internally by the processing device.In other embodiments, the statistical model may be stored in memory onanother device, such as a remote server, and the processing device maytransmit the frame of video to the external device. The external devicemay input the frame of video to the statistical model and transmit thepose outputted by the statistical model back to the processing device.Transmission between the processing device and the external device maybe over a wired communication link (e.g., over Ethernet, a UniversalSerial Bus (USB) cable or a Lightning cable) or over a wirelesscommunication link (e.g., over a BLUETOOTH, WiFi, or ZIGBEE wirelesscommunication link). The process 900 proceeds from act 908 to act 910.

In act 910, the processing device determines the direction of adirectional indicator in an augmented reality display. The directionalindicator may correspond to the instruction for moving the ultrasoundimaging device determined in act 904 by pointing in a direction on theaugmented reality display that matches the instruction. For example, ifthe instruction is to move the ultrasound imaging device in the superiordirection relative to the subject, the directional indicator may pointin the superior direction relative to the subject. The augmented realitydisplay may include the frame of video of the ultrasound imaging deviceand a directional indicator superimposed on the frame of video, wherethe directional indicator corresponds to the instruction for moving theultrasound imaging device. As will be described further below, theprocessing device determines the direction of the directional indicatorin the augmented reality display based on the instruction for moving theultrasound imaging device determined in act 904 and the pose of thecamera relative to the subject determined in act 908. In someembodiments, the processing device may determine the direction such thatthe direction of the directional indicator in the augmented realitydisplay does not change substantially in response to movement of theultrasound imaging device relative to the subject. In some embodiments,the processing device may determine the direction such that thedirection of the directional indicator in the augmented reality displayis independent of an orientation of the ultrasound imaging devicerelative to the subject. The processing device may further display thedirectional indicator in the augmented reality display, either on adisplay screen included in the processing device (e.g., display screen108) or on a display screen on another processing device. The process900 proceeds from act 910 to act 912.

In act 912, the processing device displays the directional indicator inthe augmented reality display. The augmented reality display may includethe frame of video received in act 506, or a frame of video receivedlater. The directional indicator may be superimposed on the frame ofvideo with the direction determined in act 910. The processing devicemay display the directional indicator in the augmented reality displayeither on a display screen included in the processing device (e.g.,display screen 108) or on a display screen on another processing device.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example subject 1010. In accordance with certainembodiments described herein, a three-dimensional coordinate system maybe referenced to the subject 1010 and may be called the subjectcoordinate system. For example, the subject coordinate system may be athree-dimensional coordinate system where one axis extends along thesuperior-inferior direction of the subject, another axis extends alongthe lateral-medial direction of the subject, and the third axis isorthogonal to a plane formed by these two axes. FIG. 10 furtherhighlights points O_(s) and Z_(s), which have particular coordinates inthe subject coordinate system. The direction {right arrow over(O_(s)Z_(s))} may point in a particular direction relative to thesubject, such as superior to the subject.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example augmented reality display 1100 includinga frame of video 1102 depicting the subject 1010, in accordance withcertain embodiments described herein. The camera that captured the frameof video 1102 may have its own three-dimensional coordinate system,which may be called the camera coordinate system. For example, theorigin of the camera coordinate system may be at the center ofprojection of the camera and one axis of the camera coordinate systemmay be the optical axis of the camera. A camera-image transformation,dependent on intrinsic characteristics of the camera (e.g., focallength, optical center, etc.), may determine how the camera coordinatesystem is projected onto an image coordinate system referenced to theframe of video 1102. The image coordinate system, for example, may be atwo-dimensional coordinate system within the plane of the frame of video1102.

As discussed above, the processing device may use a statistical model todetermine, from the frame of video 1102, the pose of the camera relativeto the subject 1010. Using the pose of the camera relative to thesubject 1010, the processing device may calculate a subject-cameratransformation that quantifies a translation and/or rotation of thecamera coordinate system with respect to the subject coordinate systemof FIG. 10. This information may be used by the processing device tocalculate the subject-camera transformation. The subject-cameratransformation may be, for example, in the form of a matrix or aquaternion.

The marker-camera transformation and the camera-image transformation maydetermine how to transform the points O_(s) and Z_(s) in the subjectcoordinate system to points O_(i) and Z_(i) in the image coordinatesystem. In particular, the points O_(i) and Z_(i) may represent theresult of applying the subject-camera transformation and thecamera-image transformation to the points O_(s) and Z_(s) (e.g.,multiplying the points O_(s) and Z_(s) by the subject-cameratransformation and multiplying the result of that multiplication by thecamera-image transformation, if the subject-camera transformation andthe camera-image transformations are matrices). The processing devicemay superimpose a directional indicator 1114 on the augmented realitydisplay 1100 such that the directional indicator 1114 is parallel to thedirection {right arrow over (O_(s)Z_(s))}.

The direction {right arrow over (O_(s)Z_(s))} points in the superiordirection relative to the subject. The direction {right arrow over(O_(i)Z_(i))} appears in the augmented reality display 1100 to pointparallel to the direction {right arrow over (O_(s)Z_(s))} and maytherefore also point in the superior direction relative to the subject.Accordingly, the directional indicator 1114, which appears in theaugmented reality display 1100 to point parallel to the direction {rightarrow over (O_(i)Z_(i))}, may also point in the superior directionrelative to the subject and therefore serve as an instruction for movingthe ultrasound imaging device in the superior direction relative to thesubject. In some embodiments, if the ultrasound imaging device continuesto rotate and/or tilt relative to the subject, the directional indicator1114 may not change substantially in response to movement of theultrasound imaging device using the methods described above. In someembodiments, if the ultrasound imaging device continues to rotate and/ortilt relative to the subject, the directional indicator 1114 may beindependent of an orientation of the ultrasound imaging device using themethods described above. It should be noted that the points O_(s),Z_(s), O_(i), and Z_(i) are shown in the above figures for explanatorypurposes and may not actually be shown on the augmented reality display1100.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example process 1200 for guiding collection ofultrasound data by determining whether the ultrasound imaging deviceexceeds a threshold velocity, in accordance with certain embodimentsdescribed herein. The process 1200 may be performed by a processingdevice (e.g., processing device 102) in an ultrasound system (e.g.,ultrasound system 100). The processing device may be, for example, amobile phone, tablet, laptop, or server, and may be in operativecommunication with an ultrasound imaging device (e.g., ultrasoundimaging device 114).

In act 1202, the processing devices receives sets of ultrasound datafrom two or more times from an ultrasound imaging device. For example,the ultrasound data may include a set of ultrasound data collected atone time from one location on a subject and a set of ultrasound datacollected at a later time from another location on a subject. Theultrasound data may include, for example, raw acoustical data, scanlines generated from raw acoustical data, or ultrasound images generatedfrom raw acoustical data. In some embodiments, the ultrasound imagingdevice may generate scan lines and/or ultrasound images from rawacoustical data and transmit the scan lines and/or ultrasound images tothe processing device. In other embodiments, the ultrasound imagingdevice may transmit the raw acoustical data to the processing device andthe processing device may generate the scan lines and/or ultrasoundimages from the raw acoustical data. In still other embodiments, theultrasound imaging device may generate scan lines from the rawacoustical data, transmit the scan lines to the processing device, andthe processing device may generate ultrasound images from the scanlines. The ultrasound imaging device may transmit the ultrasound dataover a wired communication link (e.g., over Ethernet, a Universal SerialBus (USB) cable or a Lightning cable) or over a wireless communicationlink (e.g., over a BLUETOOTH, WiFi, or ZIGBEE wireless communicationlink) to the processing device. The process 1200 proceeds from act 1202to act 1204.

In act 1204, the processing device receives motion and/or orientationdata from the ultrasound imaging device that was generated duringcollection of the ultrasound data in act 1202. For example, the motionand/or orientation data may include data regarding acceleration of theobject, data regarding angular velocity of the object, and/or dataregarding magnetic force acting on the object (which, due to themagnetic field of the earth, may be indicative of orientation relativeto the earth). The ultrasound imaging device may include anaccelerometer, a gyroscope, and/or a magnetometer, and these devices maybe used by the ultrasound imaging device to generate the motion and/ororientation data. Depending on the devices used to generate the motionand/or orientation data, the motion and/or orientation data may describethree degrees of freedom, six degrees of freedom, or nine degrees offreedom for the ultrasound imaging device. The ultrasound imaging devicemay transmit the motion and/or orientation data over a wiredcommunication link (e.g., over Ethernet, a Universal Serial Bus (USB)cable or a Lightning cable) or over a wireless communication link (e.g.,over a BLUETOOTH, WiFi, or ZIGBEE wireless communication link) to theprocessing device. The process 1200 proceeds from act 1204 to act 1206.

In act 1206, the processing device determines whether the ultrasounddata received in act 1202 and the motion and/or orientation datareceived in act 1204 indicates a velocity of the ultrasound imagingdevice that exceeds a threshold velocity. If the processing devicedetermines that the velocity of the ultrasound imaging device exceedsthe threshold velocity, the process 1200 proceeds from act 1206 to act1208. In act 1208, the processing device provides an instruction to theuser for slowing the velocity of the ultrasound imaging device. In someembodiments, the processing device may be configured to access astatistical model configured to accept, as inputs, ultrasound data fromtwo or more times collected by an ultrasound imaging device and motionand/or orientation data for the ultrasound imaging device generatedduring collection of the ultrasound data, and output a velocity of theultrasound imaging device. To train the statistical model to determinevelocity from ultrasound data, the statistical model may be trained onultrasound data, each set of which is labeled with the time when theultrasound data was collected and the position of the ultrasound imagingdevice when it collected the ultrasound data. The statistical model maybe able to determine the velocity of the ultrasound imaging deviceduring collection of two sets of ultrasound data based differences inthe position and time corresponding to each set of ultrasound data. Forexample, if one set of ultrasound data was collected at position p1 andtime t1 and another set of ultrasound data was collected at position p2and time t2, the statistical model may determine the velocity of theultrasound imaging device during collection of the two sets ofultrasound data to be (p1−p2)/(t1−t2). In embodiments in which themotion and/or orientation data includes acceleration data for theultrasound imaging device, the statistical model may be able todetermine the velocity of the ultrasound imaging device by integratingthe acceleration data. The statistical model may be able to moreaccurately determine the velocity of the ultrasound imaging device usingboth ultrasound data and motion and/or orientation data. In someembodiments, the statistical model may determine the velocity of theultrasound imaging device based only on ultrasound data. In suchembodiments, act 1204 may be absent. In some embodiments, thestatistical model may determine the velocity of the ultrasound imagingdevice based only on motion and/or orientation data. In suchembodiments, act 1202 may be absent.

In some embodiments, the processing device may be configured to accessanother statistical model configured to accept ultrasound data as aninput and output an instruction for moving the ultrasound imaging deviceto a target position and/or orientation based on the ultrasound data. Insuch embodiments, the processing device may be configured to provide theinstruction. The threshold velocity may be related to the lag timebetween when the ultrasound imaging device collects ultrasound data andwhen the processing device provides the instruction. In someembodiments, the threshold velocity may be approximately in the range of0.25 cm/s-2 cm/s, such as 0.25 cm/s, 0.5 cm/s, 0.75 cm/s, 1 cm/s, 1.25cm/s, 1.5 cm/s, 1.75 cm/s, 2 cm/s, or any other suitable thresholdvelocity. The inventors have recognized that providing instructions to auser to slow down movement of an ultrasound imaging device when thevelocity of the ultrasound imaging device exceeds a threshold velocitymay be helpful in providing more accurate instructions for moving theultrasound imaging device. As another example, if the statistical modelhas not been trained on sequences of ultrasound images collected byultrasound imaging devices moving beyond the threshold velocity, thestatistical model may not provide accurate instructions based onultrasound images collected by an ultrasound imaging device movingbeyond the threshold velocity. Providing instructions to a user to slowdown movement of the ultrasound imaging device may help to increase theaccuracy of instructions provided by the statistical model. As anotherexample, moving an ultrasound imaging device too fast may result inblurry ultrasound images, and providing instructions to a user to slowdown movement of the ultrasound imaging device may help to improve thequality of ultrasound images collected.

To provide the instruction for slowing the velocity of the ultrasoundimaging device, the processing device may display the instruction on adisplay screen (e.g., display screen 108) of the processing device. Forexample, if the processing device is a smartphone coupled to theultrasound imaging device by a cable, the smartphone may display theinstruction on its display screen. The displayed instruction may includewords (e.g., “Slow down”). In some embodiments, the processing devicemay generate audio containing the instructions from speakers (e.g.,speakers included in the processing device). The instruction provided inact 1208 may be provided in conjunction with the directional indicatorsdisplayed in acts 516 and 912. For example, when a user moves theultrasound imaging device in response to the directional indicatorsdisplayed in acts 516 and 912, if the user moves the ultrasound imagingdevice too fast, the instruction of act 1208 may be provided to slowdown movement of the ultrasound imaging device.

In some embodiments, the processing device may determine whetherultrasound data and motion and/or orientation data indicates a velocityof the ultrasound imaging device that is less than a threshold velocity,and if so, provide an instruction to speed up movement of the ultrasoundimaging device. This may be helpful if the statistical model has notbeen trained on sequences of ultrasound images collected by ultrasoundimaging devices moving below the threshold velocity, as the statisticalmodel may not provide accurate instructions based on ultrasound imagescollected by an ultrasound imaging device moving below the thresholdvelocity. Providing instructions to a user to speed up movement of theultrasound imaging device may help to increase the accuracy ofinstructions provided by the statistical model.

The above description has described the processes 500, 900, and 1200 asbeing performed by a processing device in operative communication withan ultrasound imaging device. However, it should be appreciated that anysteps of the processes 500, 900, and 1200 may also be performed by theultrasound imaging device itself or any combination of devices inoperative communication with the ultrasound imaging device and eachother. For example, when the process is performed by the ultrasoundimaging device 114 itself, the ultrasound imaging device 114 may includethe processor 110, the memory 112, the display screen 108, the inputdevice 118, and/or the camera 106. The processor 110 of the ultrasoundimaging device 114 may execute one or more processor-executableinstructions stored in one or more non-transitory computer-readablestorage media (e.g., the memory 112 of the ultrasound imaging device114), which may serve as non-transitory computer-readable storage mediastoring processor-executable instructions for execution by the processor110. Additionally, the embodiments described herein may also be appliedto ultrasound devices used for other purposes besides imaging, such asultrasound devices for treatment (e.g., high-intensity focusedultrasound (HIFU)).

Various inventive concepts may be embodied as one or more processes, ofwhich examples have been provided. The acts performed as part of eachprocess may be ordered in any suitable way. Thus, embodiments may beconstructed in which acts are performed in an order different thanillustrated, which may include performing some acts simultaneously, eventhough shown as sequential acts in illustrative embodiments. Further,one or more of the processes may be combined and/or omitted, and one ormore of the processes may include additional steps.

Aspects of the technology described herein relate to the application ofautomated image processing techniques to analyze images, such asultrasound images. In some embodiments, the automated image processingtechniques may include machine learning techniques such as deep learningtechniques. Machine learning techniques may include techniques that seekto identify patterns in a set of data points and use the identifiedpatterns to make predictions for new data points. These machine learningtechniques may involve training (and/or building) a model using atraining data set to make such predictions.

Statistical techniques may include those machine learning techniquesthat employ neural networks to make predictions. Neural networkstypically include a collection of neural units (referred to as neurons)that each may be configured to receive one or more inputs and provide anoutput that is a function of the input. For example, the neuron may sumthe inputs and apply a transfer function (sometimes referred to as an“activation function”) to the summed inputs to generate the output. Theneuron may apply a weight to each input, for example, to weight someinputs higher than others. Example transfer functions that may beemployed include step functions, piecewise linear functions, rectifiedlinear unit (ReLu) functions, and sigmoid functions. These neurons maybe organized into a plurality of sequential layers that each include oneor more neurons. The plurality of sequential layers may include an inputlayer that receives the input data for the neural network, an outputlayer that provides the output data for the neural network, and one ormore hidden layers connected between the input and output layers. Eachneuron in a hidden layer may receive inputs from one or more neurons ina previous layer (such as the input layer) and provide an output to oneor more neurons in a subsequent layer (such as an output layer).

A neural network may be trained using, for example, labeled trainingdata. The labeled training data may include a set of example inputs andan answer associated with each input. For example, the training data mayinclude a plurality of ultrasound images or sets of raw acoustical datathat are each labeled with an instruction for moving an ultrasoundimaging device from the position/orientation where the inputtedultrasound data was collected to a target position/orientation. In thisexample, the ultrasound images may be provided to the neural network toobtain outputs that may be compared with the labels associated with eachof the ultrasound images. One or more characteristics of the neuralnetwork (such as the interconnections between neurons (referred to asedges) in different layers and/or the weights associated with the edges)may be adjusted until the neural network correctly classifies most (orall) of the input images.

Once the training data has been created, the training data may be loadedto a database (e.g., an image database) and used to train a neuralnetwork using statistical techniques. Once the neural network has beentrained, the trained neural network may be deployed to one or moreprocessing devices.

In some applications, a neural network may be implemented using one ormore convolution layers to form a convolutional neural network. Anexample convolutional neural network is shown in FIG. 13 that isconfigured to analyze an image 1302. As shown, the convolutional neuralnetwork includes an input layer 1304 to receive the image 1302, anoutput layer 1308 to provide the output, and a plurality of hiddenlayers 1306 connected between the input layer 1304 and the output layer1308. The plurality of hidden layers 1306 includes convolution andpooling layers 1310 and dense layers 1312.

The input layer 1304 may receive the input to the convolutional neuralnetwork. As shown in FIG. 13, the input the convolutional neural networkmay be the image 1302. The image 1302 may be, for example, an ultrasoundimage.

The input layer 1304 may be followed by one or more convolution andpooling layers 1310. A convolutional layer may include a set of filtersthat are spatially smaller (e.g., have a smaller width and/or height)than the input to the convolutional layer (e.g., the image 1302). Eachof the filters may be convolved with the input to the convolutionallayer to produce an activation map (e.g., a 2-dimensional activationmap) indicative of the responses of that filter at every spatialposition. The convolutional layer may be followed by a pooling layerthat down-samples the output of a convolutional layer to reduce itsdimensions. The pooling layer may use any of a variety of poolingtechniques such as max pooling and/or global average pooling. In someembodiments, the down-sampling may be performed by the convolution layeritself (e.g., without a pooling layer) using striding.

The convolution and pooling layers 1310 may be followed by dense layers1312. The dense layers 1312 may include one or more layers each with oneor more neurons that receives an input from a previous layer (e.g., aconvolutional or pooling layer) and provides an output to a subsequentlayer (e.g., the output layer 1308). The dense layers 1312 may bedescribed as “dense” because each of the neurons in a given layer mayreceive an input from each neuron in a previous layer and provide anoutput to each neuron in a subsequent layer. The dense layers 1312 maybe followed by an output layer 1308 that provides the outputs of theconvolutional neural network. The outputs may be, for example,instructions to translate, rotate, and tilt an ultrasound imagingdevice. The output layer 1308 may provide the outputs to translate,rotate, and tilt the ultrasound imaging device simultaneously andindependently of each other. A processing device receiving the outputsfrom the output layer 1308 may only choose to provide to a user one ofthese outputs at a time. For example, once the ultrasound imaging deviceis in a default orientation, the processing device may first providetranslation instruction outputs from the neural network, then providerotation instruction outputs from the neural network once there are nofurther translation instructions, and then provide tilt instructionoutputs from the neural network once there are no further rotationinstructions.

It should be appreciated that the convolutional neural network shown inFIG. 13 is only one example implementation and that otherimplementations may be employed. For example, one or more layers may beadded to or removed from the convolutional neural network shown in FIG.13. Additional example layers that may be added to the convolutionalneural network include: a convolutional layer, a transpose convolutionallayer, a locally connected layer, a fully connected layer, a rectifiedlinear units (ReLU) layer, a pad layer, a concatenate layer, and anupscale layer. An upscale layer may be configured to upsample the inputto the layer. An ReLU layer may be configured to apply a rectifier(sometimes referred to as a ramp function) as a transfer function to theinput. A pad layer may be configured to change the size of the input tothe layer by padding one or more dimensions of the input. A concatenatelayer may be configured to combine multiple inputs (e.g., combine inputsfrom multiple layers) into a single output.

For further description of deep learning techniques, see U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/626,423 titled “AUTOMATIC IMAGE ACQUISITION FORASSISTING A USER TO OPERATE AN ULTRASOUND IMAGING DEVICE,” filed on Jun.19, 2017 (and assigned to the assignee of the instant application),which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. In any of theembodiments described herein, instead of or in addition to using one ormore convolutional neural networks, fully connected neural networks,random forests, support vector machines, linear classifiers, and/orother machine learning models may be used.

Various aspects of the present disclosure may be used alone, incombination, or in a variety of arrangements not specifically describedin the embodiments described in the foregoing and is therefore notlimited in its application to the details and arrangement of componentsset forth in the foregoing description or illustrated in the drawings.For example, aspects described in one embodiment may be combined in anymanner with aspects described in other embodiments.

The indefinite articles “a” and “an,” as used herein in thespecification and in the claims, unless clearly indicated to thecontrary, should be understood to mean “at least one.”

The phrase “and/or,” as used herein in the specification and in theclaims, should be understood to mean “either or both” of the elements soconjoined, i.e., elements that are conjunctively present in some casesand disjunctively present in other cases. Multiple elements listed with“and/or” should be construed in the same fashion, i.e., “one or more” ofthe elements so conjoined. Other elements may optionally be presentother than the elements specifically identified by the “and/or” clause,whether related or unrelated to those elements specifically identified.

As used herein in the specification and in the claims, the phrase “atleast one,” in reference to a list of one or more elements, should beunderstood to mean at least one element selected from any one or more ofthe elements in the list of elements, but not necessarily including atleast one of each and every element specifically listed within the listof elements and not excluding any combinations of elements in the listof elements. This definition also allows that elements may optionally bepresent other than the elements specifically identified within the listof elements to which the phrase “at least one” refers, whether relatedor unrelated to those elements specifically identified.

Use of ordinal terms such as “first,” “second,” “third,” etc., in theclaims to modify a claim element does not by itself connote anypriority, precedence, or order of one claim element over another or thetemporal order in which acts of a method are performed, but are usedmerely as labels to distinguish one claim element having a certain namefrom another element having a same name (but for use of the ordinalterm) to distinguish the claim elements.

As used herein, reference to a numerical value being between twoendpoints should be understood to encompass the situation in which thenumerical value can assume either of the endpoints. For example, statingthat a characteristic has a value between A and B, or betweenapproximately A and B, should be understood to mean that the indicatedrange is inclusive of the endpoints A and B unless otherwise noted.

The terms “approximately” and “about” may be used to mean within ±20% ofa target value in some embodiments, within ±10% of a target value insome embodiments, within ±5% of a target value in some embodiments, andyet within ±2% of a target value in some embodiments. The terms“approximately” and “about” may include the target value.

Also, the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose ofdescription and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of“including,” “comprising,” or “having,” “containing,” “involving,” andvariations thereof herein, is meant to encompass the items listedthereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items.

Having described above several aspects of at least one embodiment, it isto be appreciated various alterations, modifications, and improvementswill readily occur to those skilled in the art. Such alterations,modifications, and improvements are intended to be object of thisdisclosure. Accordingly, the foregoing description and drawings are byway of example only.

What is claimed is: 1-20. (canceled)
 21. A method, comprising: receivingan instruction to move an ultrasound device in a particular directionrelative to a subject; determining an orientation of the ultrasounddevice relative to the subject; and displaying, in a video displayed ona processing device in operative communication with the ultrasounddevice, a directional indicator relative to the ultrasound device,wherein displaying the directional indicator comprises adjusting for theorientation of the ultrasound device relative to the subject such thatthe directional indicator continues to point approximately in theparticular direction relative to the subject.
 22. The method of claim21, wherein the video is captured by a camera on the processing device.23. The method of claim 21, wherein displaying the directional indicatorcomprises superimposing the directional indicator on the video such thatthe directional indicator appears to be in a real-world environment ofthe video.
 24. The method of claim 21, wherein determining theorientation of the ultrasound device relative to the subject comprisesdetermining an orientation of the ultrasound device relative to gravity.25. The method of claim 24, wherein determining the orientation of theultrasound device relative to gravity comprises using an accelerometeron the ultrasound device.
 26. The method of claim 21, wherein receivingthe instruction to move the ultrasound device in the particulardirection relative to the subject comprises determining the instructionusing a statistical model.
 27. The method of claim 21, furthercomprising receiving ultrasound data from the ultrasound device, andwherein determining the instruction to move the ultrasound device in theparticular direction relative to the subject is based on the ultrasounddata.
 28. The method of claim 21, wherein the ultrasound device isinitially in a default orientation relative to the subject.
 29. Themethod of claim 28, wherein the default orientation of the ultrasounddevice relative to the subject is based on an orientation marking on theultrasound device.
 30. The method of claim 28, wherein adjusting for theorientation of the ultrasound device relative to the subject comprisessubtracting a change in orientation of the ultrasound device relative tothe subject from the default orientation of the ultrasound devicerelative to the subject.
 31. An apparatus, comprising: a processingdevice in operative communication with an ultrasound device andconfigured to: receive an instruction to move an ultrasound device in aparticular direction relative to a subject; determine an orientation ofthe ultrasound device relative to the subject; and display, in a videodisplayed on a processing device in operative communication with theultrasound device, a directional indicator relative to the ultrasounddevice, wherein the processing device is configured, when displaying thedirectional indicator, to adjust for the orientation of the ultrasounddevice relative to the subject such that the directional indicatorcontinues to point approximately in the particular direction relative tothe subject.
 32. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the processingdevice is further configured to capture the video with a camera on theprocessing device.
 33. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the processingdevice is configured, when displaying the directional indicator, tosuperimpose the directional indicator on the video such that thedirectional indicator appears to be in a real-world environment of thevideo.
 34. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the processing device isconfigured, when determining the orientation of the ultrasound devicerelative to the subject, to determine an orientation of the ultrasounddevice relative to gravity.
 35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein theprocessing device is configured, when determining the orientation of theultrasound device relative to gravity, to use an accelerometer on theultrasound device.
 36. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the processingdevice is configured, when receiving the instruction to move theultrasound device in the particular direction relative to the subject,to determine the instruction using a statistical model.
 37. Theapparatus of claim 31, wherein the processing device is furtherconfigured to receive ultrasound data from the ultrasound device anddetermine the instruction to move the ultrasound device in theparticular direction relative to the subject based on the ultrasounddata.
 38. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the ultrasound device isinitially in a default orientation relative to the subject.
 39. Theapparatus of claim 38, wherein the default orientation of the ultrasounddevice relative to the subject is based on an orientation marking on theultrasound device.
 40. The apparatus of claim 38, wherein the processingdevice is configured, when adjusting for the orientation of theultrasound device relative to the subject, to subtract a change inorientation of the ultrasound device relative to the subject from thedefault orientation of the ultrasound device relative to the subject.